Department cites CBP data showing high percentages from Cuba, Haiti, and Honduras; enforcement continues amid funding standoff.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The Department of Homeland Security said that 8% of Nicaragua’s entire population illegally entered the United States during the Biden administration, citing data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
According to a Fox News report, DHS officials stated that the majority of the crossings occurred between February 2021 and January 2025.
The department said that in addition to Nicaragua, large shares of other countries’ populations entered the U.S. illegally during that period. DHS posted that 7% of Cuba’s population, 6% of Haiti’s, and 5% of Honduras’ entered the United States unlawfully.
The total number of illegal migrants from those nations is in the millions, according to DHS, which sharply criticized the Biden administration’s border policies. The department accused the prior administration of allowing record crossings and undermining border enforcement.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has repeatedly blamed the previous administration for what she describes as a humanitarian and security crisis at the southern border. During an interview earlier this month in Eagle Pass, Texas, Noem pointed to what the White House calls “the most secure border in the history of this nation.”
“In just a year’s time, we’ve gone from this type of a situation under the previous administration to safety,” Noem told Fox News Digital. She added that thousands of people died at the border because, in her words, the previous administration cut fencing and allowed large-scale illegal crossings tied to cartel activity, drug trafficking, and human trafficking.
“This was immediately stopped when President Trump came in,” Noem said.
The Trump administration has continued deportation operations despite criticism from Democrats and some Republicans over enforcement tactics. Scrutiny intensified following the deadly shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota, though DHS maintains that enforcement efforts are focused on restoring order after what it characterizes as years of unchecked migration.
Noem questioned Democratic lawmakers who have criticized detention facilities and enforcement operations.
“Those Democrats, every day, who talk about detention centers, who talk about our enforcement operations in the United States, where were they when this crisis was going on?” she said. “A hundred times more people were dying here at this border because of what they were doing, and they never said a word.”
In Washington, a partial government shutdown over DHS funding continues, with Democrats pressing for changes to Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations. DHS officials say approximately 90% of department employees are classified as essential and are required to work without pay during the funding lapse.
ICE operations are largely funded through prior appropriations in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” and related legislation.
Border czar Tom Homan said in a CNN interview that the shutdown would have “no impact” on ongoing immigration enforcement.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also criticized congressional Democrats during a press briefing, saying essential workers—including FEMA personnel, Coast Guard members, and Transportation Security Administration employees—would continue working without pay due to the funding dispute.
DHS said deportation efforts will proceed as planned while Congress negotiates funding and border policy changes.
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